BREAKING NEWS: BBC donates proceeds of Princess Diana Panorama interview to charity

The BBC is to donate the proceeds of sales from the Princess Diana Panorama interview to charities that were linked with her.

The announcement today, Friday, September 2 follows the broadcaster’s apology over the manner in which the 1995 interview was obtained.

Seven charities are said to benefit from the £1.42 million (€1.64 million) in sales, these being: Centrepoint, English National Ballet, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, The Leprosy Mission, National Aids Trust, The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and The Diana Award.

Earlier this year the BBC apologised after a report by Lord Dyson concluded that the BBC had covered up the “deceitful behaviour” of the interviewer Martin Bashir.

Princess Diana made international headlines with the revelations uncovered in the interview, including the famous quote wherein she said: “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”

A statement issued by the BBC said that it would never use any of the footage from the interview again and that it had made the donations as promised. It continued by saying: “Given the findings of Lord Dyson, we think this is the right and appropriate course of action.”

Director-General Tim Davie said the funds come from advertising revenue and have not been paid from licence revenue. He went on to say: “Now we know about the shocking way that the interview was obtained, I have decided that the BBC will never show the programme again, nor will we license it in whole or part to other broadcasters.

“It does of course remain part of the historical record and there may be occasions in the future when it will be justified for the BBC to use short extracts for journalistic purposes, but these will be few and far between and will need to be agreed at the executive committee level and set in the full context of what we now know about the way the interview was obtained.

“I would urge others to exercise similar restraint.”

Bashir is said to have lied to Diana’s brother Earl Spencer in order to get Princess Diana to agree to the interview.

The donation is in addition to the BBC’s agreement to pay substantial damages to Princes William and Harry’s former nanny over “false and malicious” claims. These alleged that she had an affair with Prince Charles and that she had terminated a pregnancy.

The BBC has followed through with its promise to donate the proceeds of the Princess Diana Panorama interview to charity, which it hopes will now bring the issue to a close.

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